Skate



Oct. 26, 1937. w, BLOCHINGER 2,096,781

SKATE Filed Jan. 13, 1956 Inventor Willi am B10 chingev Jlttorneqs Patented Oct. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES SKATE William Blochinger, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Oiympiad Skate 00., St. Paul, Minn, a. co-

partnersln'p composed of Almond L. Colbiomsen and William Blochinger' Application January 13, 1936, Serial No. 58,847

10 Claims. (01. 280-1118) My invention relates to skates and particularly to the toe end of a skate, and has for an object to provide a skate having a toe end adapted to more effectively perform its intended function.

. Another object of the invention resides in providing a toe end which will support the skater without unnecessarily digging into the ice.

An object of the invention resides in providing a toe end which willnot readily injure the skaters 10 clothing.

A still further object of the invention resides inproviding a toe end which is self cleaning.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a skate having a toe end which may be used equally as well for braking as for jumping.

An object of the invention resides in providing a skate by means of which either abrupt or gradual braking may be procured.

Another object of the invention residesin pro- 20 vidinga toe end having a zig zag ridge.

A feature of .the invention resides in providing a toe end in which the ridge is confined solely to theface of the toeend. I

An object of the invention resides in providing a toe end in which irregularities in the face thereof are produced by cutting notchesor grooves alternately in the opposite corners of the toe end, the notches extending through the face and the lateral surface of the toe end associated with the 30 particular corner in which the notch is out and falling short of the opposite lateral surface.

Other objects of the invention reside in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter illustrated and/or described.

In the drawing; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a figure skate illustrating an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Fig.4 is a perspective view of the toe end of the n skate shown in Fig. 1 and drawn to an enlarged 45 scale. V

In the construction of skates-and particularly figure skates, the practice has been -toprovide prongs at the toe end of the skatearranged alternately along the corners of the toe end. Such construction is disadvantageous in that the spaces between prongs readily fill up with ice, thus -les- -ening the usefulness of the structure for the de-' sired purpose. Such prongs frequently-catch in theskaters clothing, occasionally tripping the 55 skater-and frequently tearing his clothing, In

addition, the prongs readily bend or spread apart when the skater walks ,on the toe of the skate either on a wood fiooror walk or on any other hard surface. .When the toe end of the skate is used for braking; at times too much resistance is 5 provided and the skate digs too deeply into the ice. The same frequently occurs when the skater uses the toe end in jumping. The present inven-,

tion overcomes all of these disadvantages, as will become apparent from the following description.

For the purpose of illustrating the application of my invention, I have shown inthe drawing a conventional type of figure skate which is indicated in its entiretyby the reference character A.

It will become readily apparent, however, that the invention may be used with anytype of .skate. The skate A comprises a runner I0 constructed of heavy sheet steel which'is cut in the form shown in Fig. 1. This runner has a heel end H a toe end l2 and an intermediate portion l3, the toe end curving upwardly from the intermediate portion fatthe forward end of the skate. The face of the intermediate portion l3 of runner I!) is designated by the reference numeral l4 and con stitutes the surface of the;runner which slides .25 along the ice. This surface extends upwardly alongthe toe end l2 wheresaid surface is designated by the referencenumeral l5. Both the surfaces M and I5 may be transversely hollow ground or concave, or the same may be filed or ground transversely straight. The lateral surfacesof the toe end l2 are indicated by the reference numerals 26 and 2! and the corners formed between these surfaces and the face l5 are designated by the-reference numerals 28 and 29.

The skate A is attached to the shoe of the wearer by means of a heel plate It .and a sole plate I1. Heel plate! 6 is mounted on a stanchion .l8 issuing upwardly from the heel end of runner l0 and may bewelded or brazed thereto or se- .40 cured to said stanchion :in any other suitable manner. Sole plate I! is similarlymounted on a stanchion l9 issuing upwardlyfrom the intermediate portion I3-of runner l0 andon the uppermost part 2| of the toe end l2. This plate may @5 also be welded or brazed to the stanchion l9 and toe end I 2. The two plates l 6 and l 'l areprovided with screw holes 22 through which suitable screws may be inserted for the purpose of attaching the skate tothe shoe of the wearer.

The invention proper comprises irregularities f in the face l5 of the toeend whichare indicated 7 3 generally by the referencenumeral 23. These irregularities oonsist mainly of a zigzag ridgejg l which extends throughout the major portion of 5s A the face and is confined to the surface of the said face. The said irregularities also include one or more teeth or prongs 25 disposed at the lowermost end of the ridge 24. .These parts of the invention will now be described in detail.

The ridge 24 is formed by cutting two series of notches 3| and 32 in the toe end l2, the notches 3| being cut in the corner 28 and the notches 32 in the corner 29. All of these notches are similar in construction, being V shaped grooves which extend diagonally through the corners 2B and 29-. These notches have walls 35' and 36 and the reentrant angle included therebetween is designated by the reference numeral 31. The line of intersection of the surfaces 35 and 36 is indicated at 38 and constitutes the vertex of the angle 31. The notches 3i extend through the surface 26 and also through the face I5 of the toe end l2 and fall short of the surface 21. These notches are spaced from one another and are so formed that the lines of intersection 33 and 34 of said notches with the surface 26 approach each other toward the face l5, being spaced apart at such surface an amount equal to the width of the ridge 24 at such locality. Where a sharp ridge is desired, the lines 33 and 34 may meet, depending upon the sharpness of the vertex 38 of the reentrant angle 31 formed between the walls 35 and 36 of said notches. The notches 32 are constructed identically the same as the notches 3| and are staggered with respect thereto, being formed in the metal of the corner 29 between the notches 31. These latter notches extend through the surface 21 and face I5 and fall short of the surface 26 in exactly the same manner as the notches 3|. The ridge 24 is formed at the intersections of the surfaces 35 and 36 with the face 15 and hence lies wholly within said face. Due to the alternation of the notches 31 and 32,

said ridge becomes zig zag in shape extending alternately diagonally from one surface 26 of the toe end I2 to the other surface 21 thereof.

The tooth 25 is V shaped in cross section, being formed by means of a'groove 39 also V shaped which extends transversely across the toe end 12, being at rightangles to the medial plane of the runner 10. One wall 42 of this tooth is formed by a surface of said groove; This tooth is further formed by another similar groove 4|, one surface of which forms the wall 43 of said tooth and the other surface of which merges into the face 14 of the intermediate portion l3 of the runner ID of the skate. The tooth 25 is formed with a straight transverse ridge 44 which extends directly across the toe end 12 of the skate, and which is free from the ridge 24.

The use of the skate is as follows: During normal travel over the ice the skate rests upon the face l4 which supports it for sliding movement, either in a. straight line or curved line. When abrupt braking is desired, the skate is turned so that the tooth 25 engages the ice, which digs into the ice and produces the desired result. When less effective braking is desired, the skate is turned still further and the zig zag ridge 24 engages the ice. Due to the continuity of this ridge the irregularities formed thereby dig into the ice a lesser amount and less effective braking results. When the skater is jumping and desires to land and remain stationary the toe end I2 is used. In such case the skate is turned so that the ridge 24 engages the surface of the ice whenthe skater lands, Said ridge in such position supports the skater and digs into the ice sufficiently to prevent slipping.

The ridge of my invention being continuous is very strong and the bending and dulling of the prongs of the ordinary skate is eliminated. The irregularities of my invention will not readily catch on the skaters clothing. With my invention several degrees of braking can be procured.

My invention operates better in soft ice than the ordinary skate and particularly where the weight of .the skater is resting upon the toe end of the runner. The skater may walk along'board walks on the toe end of skates constructed with my invention without materially injuring the skates. 1 Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of my invention; .j

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face, said face being constructed with staggered depressions disposed on opposite sides thereof and forming a zigzag ridge extending along said face. I

2. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end having lateral surfaces and a face intersecting said lateral surfaces, the corners between said lateral surfaces and face being formed with notches, the notches in onecorner being disposed in staggered relation with respect to the notches in the other corner and forming in conjunction with one another a zig zag ridge lying entirelyrin said face. T

3. In a skate, arunner provided with a toe end having lateral'surfaces and a face intersecting said lateral surfaces and forming two corners therebetween, one of said corners being formed with spaced notches extending through said-face and the lateral surface associated with said corner and falling short of theopposite lateral surface and the other corner being formed with similar notches staggered with respect to the first named notches.

4. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face and a ridge confined entirely to said face. and extending along a continuous irregular line in said face.

5. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end having lateral surfaces and a face intersecting said lateral surfaces and forming two corners therebetween, one of said corners being formed with spaced V shaped grooves extending through said face and the lateral surface associated with said corner and falling short of the opposite lateral surface, the other corner being formed with similar grooves staggered with relation to said first named grooves and forming in conjunction therewith a zig zag ridge extending in a continuous line and being confined entirelyto said face.

6. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face,said face being constructed with staggered depressions disposed; on oppositesides thereof and forming a zig zag ridge extending along said face, and a tooth formed in the toe end at one end of said ridge.

. '7. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face, said face being constructed with staggered depressions disposed on opposite-sides thereof and forming a zig zag ridge extending along said face, and a tooth formed in the toe end at the lowermost end of said ridge.

8. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face, said face being constructed with staggered depressions disposed on opposite sides thereof and forming a zig zag ridge extending along Said face, and a tooth formed in the toe end at one end of said ridge, said tooth being spaced from the end of said ridge.

9. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end, having a face, said face being constructed with staggered depressions disposed on opposite sides thereof and forming a zig zag ridge extending along said face, and. a tooth formed in the toe end at one end of said ridge, the point of said tooth lying in said face.

10. In a skate, a runner provided with a toe end having lateral surfaces and a face intersecting said lateral surfaces and forming two corners therebetween, one of said corners being formed with spaced V shaped'grooves extending through said face and the lateral surface associated with said corner and falling short of the opposite lateral surface, the other corner being formed with similar grooves staggered with relation to said first named grooves and forming in conjunc-' tion therewith chisel edges confined entirely to 

